Blog Archives
Innovation and the customer – don’t presume the outcome
Innovation and the customer
The customer defines what successful innovation is by its implementation and use. The issue is, they may not know what the solution or outcome looks like beforehand.
A problem with asking what the customer wants is that they may not know, or they have a preconceived solution in mind that may not be viable or effective, or it may be even undesirable or unsuitable. There is a problem of unlimited choice being a hindrance to decision-making. Be cautious of the “if money was no object…?” or “In a perfect world…?” questions as they can be paralysing due to the questions being unstructured and limitless.
Freedom in creativity and innovation is best defined within a discipline. An example could be this: a skilled dancer can move freely, fluidly and with unbounded creativity because of years of disciplined training and structured practice. A skilled person will know what boundaries to push though and what rules can be challenged. If I tried the same free expression through dance I would probably break something, most likely myself, I certainly would not enjoy the experience and I can guarantee it would not be a pretty sight.
Determining customer needs without prejudging the result or outcome will better define what a solution will look like. The needs assessment has to be done with a great deal of care and skill, without an agenda or preferred outcome in mind. Do not lead the customer into giving you the answer you want to hear.
If you apply the assessed needs with innovative processes then a solution that is beneficial to both the customer and the innovator is possible, but it may be entirely different to any preexisting solutions you or the customer may have started with.
Juggling too many chainsaws
I can juggle 2 balls in one hand just fine, 3 balls in both hands OK, any more than that it just gets messy.
In life it is important to know your limits, especially for those who have a tendency to say yes too often or take on too much and over commit.
All to often I find that I start to juggle OK then add another ball then another and every now and then a chainsaw comes along. Out of necessity you (I) will catch it once or twice but it will be inevitably dropped and cause damage in the process
The trick with juggling is to not try something without building up the skills required before hand and to know your limitations. Do not be tempted to go from juggling balls to juggling working chainsaws in one step.
“What can’t you do?” is just as an important question to ask as “what can you do?”
If you have taken on too much and you are trying to juggle beyond your skill level or ability you have to make changes. Get help, coaching and training and/or put those items you are juggling down and work out which ones are the important ones for you to continue.
You need to do this before you damage yourself or others.
Yes, stretch yourself, work hard at increasing your abilities, but do not burn yourself out in the process. When you are handed chainsaws to juggle you need to have confidence in your own ability to juggle them, and that confidence needs to be based in reality. Do not try to juggle them because you think you can you have to know you can.
So be careful juggling chainsaws.
The importance of introverts
Please watch and learn from the following video about being an introvert and working with them.
Paul S Allen (I am an introvert)